


Quips and Companionship

by acesandapricots



Series: Kinktober 2020 [3]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Comfort, Emotional Intimacy, F/M, Flirting, Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:34:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27290536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acesandapricots/pseuds/acesandapricots
Summary: It began with teasing comments. It always did. It didn’t have to become something more. | A short series of vignettes of Riker and Troi falling into old habits together.
Relationships: William Riker/Deanna Troi
Series: Kinktober 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1958257
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	Quips and Companionship

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was written for the Kinktober 2020 challenge (prompt: teasing).
> 
> My everlasting thanks to [whitmans_kiss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitmans_kiss/) for beta reading!

It began with teasing comments. It always did.

It didn’t have to become something more.

But when they inevitably fell in bed together, naked limbs tangled in sweaty sheets, foreheads pressed together and hands clasping and clenching, they could always pinpoint where it began.

Once, it had all started in Ten Forward. After a long night reviewing crew reports, after one too many chocolate sundaes and Samarian Sunsets, they felt relaxed enough to tease about recent romances - about Will’s failed flirtations with the Sheliak interpreter; about Deanna’s habit of sharing more than professional courtesy with the latest telepath to cross the ship’s course.

Their gentle ribbing, their friendly check-ins and weighted looks were a flirtatious habit all their own. They walked out of Ten Forward arm in arm, laughter spilling from their lips and their steps soft and sure. They woke up the next morning with the taste of chocolate in Will’s mouth and synthohol in Deanna’s.

A quick turn in the sonic shower, a fresh uniform, a cup of hot coffee, and life returned to duty and friendship aboard the _Enterprise_.

The horga’hn was another pleasurable interlude. It had shown up in Will’s quarters one evening, probably a gag gift from Geordi, and when Deanna stopped by for a quick chat about Lieutenant Barclay’s latest troubles, it was staring at her from across the room. She quipped about shore leave and relaxation, and he responded with a smile and a wink.

They were both eager, they were both willing, and they easily came together in the rhythmic motions that defined _jamaharon_.

Then there was the time after the Ambassador’s Reception on Andoria. Try as she might, after a solid week of high tensions and low debate, Deanna was overwhelmed with the empathic noise of diplomacy and duplicity. Will noticed and was at her side, in her head, shielding her and calming her and leading her off to a secluded corner til her headache could subside.

The teasing began the next day, after a night of rest, when Will broke the earnest nature of their gratitude-filled exchange with a joke. They were both equally comfortable and uncomfortable with this particular intimacy, with how attuned they were to one another’s emotions and needs, the incident at the reception having stepped beyond an unspoken boundary into action and intimate care. They allowed themselves the luxury of falling into jokes and quick comments, allowed themselves the comfort of feeling familiar attraction and building heat.

If they ignored the emotional complexity and just listened to their bodies, it was easier to move on the next day.

There was that one time that had begun at poker night… 

This time, it had begun with looks exchanged across the ready room table, with secrets divulged in the hope of diffusing a crisis. Deanna spoke about the pain of heartbreak, of the trauma of isolation that could lead a community to the brink. Will spoke about youthful mistakes, about bravado and tribalism and hot-headed misery. Both spoke about the pain of separation. Both spoke about the necessity of choice. Both spoke about the difficulties of growth.

Each hoped their stories would help these kind, troubled people who were reaching out for aid. Each couldn’t help but file the information, newly resurfaced, away for reflection.

And when the crisis was over, when the _Enterprise_ was on its way again to new parts of the galaxy, Will found Deanna and she dropped into his arms. They wept together to release the tension from their bodies; they laughed together to ease the stress from their minds.

“Heartache, huh?” was Will’s teasing comment.

And Deanna lightly punched him in the arm, a smile on her lips and tears bright in her eyes.

And this time, that was all it took for their hug to turn into an embrace, for the comfort of their familiar bodies to become the exquisite tenderness of joined movement - for mouths to melt into kisses, for legs to part, for hips to bend - for a soft cry and a deep moan and the gentle caresses they both adored.

It began with teasing comments. And both of them hoped it would never end.


End file.
